The average American east about 15 grams of fiber, about half of what they need. To put this in perspective, the following portions contain 15 grams of fiber:
- One cup of black beans;
- Two cups of bran flakes;
- Three oat bran muffins;
- Five bananas;
- 10 carrots; or
- 13 cups of popcorn.
One study looked at the dietary habits of middle aged women; when the researchers followed up 20 months later, they found that every additional gram of fiber the subjects ate correlated with a half-pound less in total body weight and a quarter percent less fat (AARP The Magazine, March/April 2022 Issue, page 36).
